Inspiring lessons that I have learned from couples, whose interfaith weddings I officiated.

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Travel the Word Together

Saturday night, Reverend
Aaron Teague and I co-officiated Alexis and Logan’s
wedding at Marie Gabrielle in Dallas,
Texas. Here are the remarks I
shared with them and their guests:

This couple, actually,
teaches us two important lessons, and they are of the unconscious variety, and
boy are they deep!

First Alexis’ lesson for us.
Here is what she says about Logan:
“I want to spend the rest of my life with him, I want to start a family with
him, I want to grow old with him. He brings so much color to my life, color I
had no idea I was missing. The sun shines brighter when we’re together, food
tastes better when we’re together. Everything is better when we’re together.”

Now, the romantics among you
are going, “Awwwwwww!” The rationalists among you, conscious of the fact that
usually your verbal insights are not appreciated at events like these, perhaps
winced a bit. “Food tastes better when we’re together?” Really?!

Well, I am no scientist, and
I don’t even play one on TV. However, I believe this is quite rational. We
think that taste is something in the tongue. It is not. It is in the brain. The
entire food restaurant industry makes that quite clear.

Now to Logan’s lesson for us. Here is what he says
about Alexis: “She has helped make me a better person every day we have been
together. I am so lucky to have met such an unbelievable caring, kind, and
loving person. I want to spend the rest of my life with her to grow together,
to experience life together, travel the word together, and raise a family
together.”

Now, you are probably
thinking to yourself, “Oh boy, he’s a rabbi, and he can’t read. How sad.”
Because, surely, I should have read, “travel the world together.” Here’s the
thing, I am not misreading. Logan
accidentally typed “word” instead of “world.”

However, through this he
teaches us an incredible lesson. You see, there can be two ways to approach our
differences in the realm of faith. And, you will see examples of this among
interfaith couples, among friends who are members of different faiths, and even
among faith communities. One way is not to really talk about faith. Let’s just
play it safe. We don’t want to argue or disagree, so let’s talk about anything
else.

Well, that may be safe, but
it’s really boring, and it is not conducive to learning. Guess what, if you
think your tradition has a monopoly on the truth, and that you have nothing to
learn from other faiths, you are wrong. So, the smarter move is to, in Logan’s words, “travel
the word together.” Learn about the other person’s faith, learn about their
traditions. You will become richer for it, we all will become richer for it,
just like Alexis and Logan.